Acid properties of semicrystalline zeolitic mesoporous UL-ZSM-5 materials

UL-ZSM-5 materials have been prepared by templated solid-state crystallization of zeolites starting from the amorphous mesostructured aluminosilicate Al-Meso. Microcalorimetry and FTIR have been employed to characterize their surface acidity. In good agreement with ²⁷Al MAS NMR data, UL-ZSM-5 displayed an improved density and strength of Brönsted acid sites, as compared to Al-Meso, owing to the incorporation of aluminium in a tetrahedral environment similar to that of zeolite ZSM-5. Moreover, they showed an enhanced Brönsted/Lewis relative acid ratio. However, Al-Meso showed the highest concentration of strong Lewis acid sites due to its largest amount of aluminium in extraframework positions.     

Effect of ionic liquid on polyaniline chemically synthesised under falling-pH conditions

This study investigates the effect of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride ([bmim]Cl) on the morphological, structural, and electronic properties of polyaniline (PANI) products synthesised by the falling-pH method. Products were characterised by SEM, FT-IR, UVVIS, N₂-physisorption, and conductivity measurements. The [bmim]Cl addition strongly influenced the PANI morphology, specific surface area, porosity, and conductivity. Depending on the [bmim]Cl: ANI ratio and the synthesis pH, a wide range of PANI nanostructures could be prepared, with rod-like, and fibre-like elongated structures being the dominant morphology under most experimental conditions. Samples prepared in the presence of [bmim]Cl exhibit specific areas of ca 22–35 m² g^?1. The conductivity of the final products depends on the [bmim]Cl: ANI ratio. Temperature dependence of conductivity in the temperature range from 77 K to 300 K was also studied.     

Glass foam from window panes and bottle glass wastes

Glass foams are building materials that now compete with classic insulating polymeric and fiber materials for thermal enveloping. The low flammability, high chemical durability and thermal stability are distinct advantages over polymeric materials. The present paper proposes the possibility of producing glass foam using two types of recycled glass wastes (window panes and bottle glass) together with plaster wastes from used ceramic casting molds as foaming agent. Optical microscopy, measurements of apparent porosity and density, hydrolytic and chemical stability, as well as thermal conductivity were used in order to characterize the obtained glass foams as insulator materials for the building industry. The apparent porosity of glass foams ranges between 20.19–54.54% when using window glass wastes, and 18.77–51.75% with bottle glass wastes. Thermal conductivity was less than 0.25 W mK-1 for all the studied glasses. The obtained results confirm that there exists an alternative method for producing glass foams, for example, from glass wastes and used ceramic plaster molds, which are utilized as foaming agents with good chemical stability and insulating properties.     

Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria from Conjunctival Flora in an Eye Infection Prone Breed (Saint Bernard)

The conjunctival bacterial resident and opportunistic flora of dogs may represent a major source of dissemination of pathogens throughout the environment or to other animals and humans. Nevertheless, contamination with bacteria from external sources is common. In this context, the study of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pattern may represent an indicator of multidrug resistant (MDR) strains exchange. The present study was focused on a single predisposed breed—Saint Bernard. The evaluated animals were healthy, but about half had a history of ocular disease/treatment. The swabs collected from conjunctival sacs were evaluated by conventional microbiological cultivation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). The most prevalent Gram-positive was Staphylococcus spp.; regardless of the history, while Gram-negative was Pseudomonas spp.; exclusively from dogs with a history of ocular disease/treatment. Other identified genera were represented by Bacillus, Streptococcus, Trueperella, Aeromonas and Neisseria. The obtained results suggest a possible association between the presence of mixed flora and a history of ocular disease/treatment. A high AMR was generally observed (90%) in all isolates, especially for kanamycin, doxycycline, chloramphenicol and penicillin. MDR was recorded in Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. This result together with a well-known zoonotic potential may suggest an exchange of these strains within animal human populations and the environment.     

Observation and theoretical description of periodic geometric rearrangement in electronically excited nonstoichiometric sodium-fluoride clusters

We present two-color fs pump-probe spectra of Na2F which were recorded by employing excitation wavelengths around 1208 nm (pump) and ionization wavelengths around 405 nm (probe). The observed oscillatory structure of the signal with a period of 185 fs shows an excellent agreement with our simulated spectra. The employed ab initio Wigner distribution approach provides clear evidence that this observation is caused by photoinduced metal bond breaking followed by a butterfly-type periodic geometric rearrangement.     

Phase transitions in gallium nanodroplets detected by dielectric spectroscopy

Both theoretical and experimental works give evidence that gallium exhibits solid phases labelled , , , besides the stable phase strongly dependent both on the size and the confinement conditions. An experimental technique was used based on capacitance and conductance measurements vs. temperature in the audiofrequency range. This technique is particularly sensitive to the conditions of the investigated particle surface that plays a fundamental role in the melting and more generally in the phase transition processes. In particular the strict relation between the derivative of the capacitance with respect to the temperature, dC/dT, and the entropy of the system is considered. In gallium nanoparticles 20 nm in radius, only the phase is shown to occur. Further the transition to liquid phase was detected. The melting process was found to start about 65 K below the full melting temperature value. In the case of particles 10 nm in radius, where different metastable phases may occur, the capacitance vs. temperature curve was found to display abrupt changes of the slope. The singularities are associated to a well defined transition temperature.     

Stochastic uniform observability of linear differential equations with multiplicative noise

The aim of this paper is to give a deterministic characterization of the uniform observability property of linear differential equations with multiplicative white noise in infinite dimensions. We also investigate the properties of a class of perturbed evolution operators and we used these properties to give a new representation of the covariance operators associated to the mild solutions of the investigated stochastic differential equations. The obtained results play an important role in obtaining necessary and sufficient conditions for the stochastic uniform observability property.